Sweeper



B. FRAME.

SWEEPER.

APPLICATION FILED APR". 1918.

Patent-ed Apr. 6, 1920.

' B. FRAME.

SWEEPER.

APPLICATION FILED APR. I5, 1918.

Patented Apr; 6, 1920.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

am H J la n .m A km 4 v@ my NMU B. FRAME.

SWEEPER.

APPLICATION FILED APR, 15, I918.

Patented Apr. 6, 1929.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

M W V N sates FRAME, or iOIt'lLAND, OREGON.

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Application filed April 15, 1918. Serial No. 228,784.

To (ZZZ whom it may concern: Be it known thatiI, BRUCE F RAMs, a c1t1- Zen of the United States, and aresident of Portland, county of Multnomah, State of Oregon, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sweepers, of which the following is a specification. I y

My invention relates to sweepers in gen eral, and particularly to such sweepersas have the brooms mounted upon endless chains, and arranged to have eachof said brooms travel parallel to the, surface being swept during a portion of its cycle, such being particularly applicable to. street sweepers. I

The objects of, my invention are to provide in such a device means whereby the position of said brooms may be adjustediwithout affecting the tension of said chains; to provide means whereby the brooms maybe raised from the street without affecting the tension of said chains; to provide means whereby said brooms may accommodate themselves transversely to the irregularities of the street; to provide means whereby the brooms in contact with the street may .be held substantially verticalwhile traveling parallel to the street; andto provide an improved method of securing the bristles of said brooms-t0 the broom heads.

I accomplish the above objects by means of the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which area part ofthis application for Letters Patent, like characters of reference indicating like parts throughout the several views,and in which;

Figure 1 isa' side elevation of my device, parts being shown in section. 1

Fig.2 isa plan, View of the same upon a reduced scale fro Fig- 1, certain parts being removed for fclearnesslof illustration.

.Fig. 3 ,is a sectional view upon l ne 3 -3 'of Fig. 1. .F-i r, dis a sectional view upon line H of .Fig. 1'. I

.Fig. 5 is a sectional view o-f one of the brooms and my improved bristle attachment means.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a portion of one of the bristle attachment details.

-Fig. :7,i's;a perspectiveview of a portion of the broom chain and attachments thereto. Fig. S .is a perspectivevi ew of the frame mounting.

Specification 6f Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 6, 1920;

F ig. 9 is a perspective view of the frame mounting guide block.

In general such a device as known to the art consists of a pair of parallel endless chains operating upon head sprockets 11 and tail sprockets 12 and 13, said sprockets being mounted in pairs respectively upon cross shafts 1d, 15 and 16, said shafts being journaled in bearings hereinafter to be described and secured to parallel frame members 1?, and my invention consists in pivoting said frame members 17 to rotate about the shaft 14 as an axis, in allowing the frame members limited independent action about shaft let, and the mechanical means of accomplishing the above, and also in the means, hereinafter described, for adjusting the brushes for wear and keeping them substantially vertical while sweeping the street surface.

'Each of said shafts is journaled in ball bearings consisting of a member 18 upon the shaft and a member 1 9 surrounding ,said member 18 with between, said members 19 being mounted in spherical Zone members 21, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4c;

Said spherical zone members 21 are secured to frame members 17 by casings hereinafter to be described, and the function said spherical zone members is to oscillate slightly within their respective casings, thereby allowing theframe members 17 to move independently about shaft 14 without cramping the shaf 15 and 16 in their journals.

The journal members 18 are secured to shaft 1 1 by means of two semicircular keepers22 let into an annular groove upon said shaft, and a cupped member 23 incasing the two semicircular keepers and secured in the frame members 17 are composed of two a plurality of balls 2Uthere-' to form a housing for said respective spheri cal zone members 21, said members 30 having an extension 30 secured to said frame members 17 by bolts 31.

To allow of adjustment of the tension in chains 10 I provide bolts 31 respective to the shaft 16 with slots 32 in frame members 17 anda threaded eye bolt 33 coacting with one of said bolts and passing through a foot 34 turned upon the end of frame members 17, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

With respect to shaft 14 and to the frame members 17 the casings securing the spherical zone members 21 consist of two members 35 and 36 bolted together to form a housing for said respective spherical zone member 21, as'shown in Fig. 3.

To secure frame member 17 pivotall about shaft 14 I provide a flanged yoke rotatably mounted upon casing member 36 and secured to its respective frame member 17 by bolts 38, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, thereby allowing said frame members 17 to rotate about shaft 14 upon the bearing of yoke 37 upon members 36.

By the means just described I enable frame members 17 to rotate about shaft 14 without disturbing the relation of shafts 14, 15 and 16 one with the other, and thus I am enabled to raise the brooms from the ground or street without disturbing the tension of the chains 10.

I am aware that the frame members 17 chains 10 and shafts 14, 15 and 16 are old in the art, but heretofore the'frame members 17 have rotated upon a pivotal axis outside the axis of the shaft 14 which results in an alteration of the tension in the chains 10, and also heretofore the frames 17 have not been independently rotatable upon the respective pivotal points, and' therein the constructlon of my dev1cede scribed above 1s an improvement and an advance in the art.

My device is mounted upon the main frame members 39 of the sweeper vehicle, the same having erected thereon guides 40 coacting with suitable grooves 41 in casing member 35 of shaft 14, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3.

A transversely disposed dust pan 42 is "locatedbeneath the vehicle frame 39, the

brushes being in contact therewith as they pass upward from the street, as shown in Fig. 1, and thus deposit the dirt in a suitable rece'ptacle 43. 7

To adjust the brushes so that they may always be in contact with dust pan 42 as the brushes wear, I provide screws 44 secured to vehicle frame 39 and longitudinally movable in orifices in housing [members 35 of shaft '14, there being suitable nuts upon said screws whereby the bearings of shaft 14 may be raised or lowered upon guides 40 to bring the brushes into contact with dust pan 42, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

. T o raise the brushes from the street when desired I provide a cross shaft 45 journaled upon vehicle frames 39 and operated by a lever 46 and a rod 47 from the operators cab upon the vehicle, said shaft 45 having thereon levers 48 operating links 49 with pivot slots 50 therein, and pivoted to respective frame members 17 as shown in Fig.1 only. 7

By this means the operator manipulating rod 47 may raise or lower the frame members 17 and thereby the brushes, while the slots 50 allow each frame member to move independently of the other.

The brush blocks 51 are secured to'side extensions 53 upon chains 10, and to confine the brushes to a vertical position or normal to the chain as the brush sweeps the street I provide bars 54 secured between said blocks 51 and said extensions 53 and extending parallel to the chain to contact with another side extension 53*, as shown in Figs. 1 and 7. r

By this construction the brushes are con fined in a position normal to the chain as the latter travels parallel to the street, and to guide the chain during this part of its travel to a rigid path parallel to the street I provide rollers 55"thereon, and guides 56 and 57 supported from frame members 17 by arms 58 and adapted to receive there-' between said rollers 55 and thereby guide and confine the chains 10 to, paths parallel to the street as determined by said guides 56 and 57, as shown in Figs. 1,2, 4and 7.

To confine the frame members 17 laterally I provide vertical guides 59 mounted between vehicle frame members 39 and- 39 and contacting with frame members 17, thereby confining said latter members in a lateral or transverse direction;

The brush bristles 60'may be secured to the brush block 51 in any suitable manner, but I illustrate in Figs; 2,5 and 6 a preferred method, consisting of a plurality of troughs 61 of thin material such as sheet steel, and having interlocking edges as shown at 62. V

A rod 63 is axially disposed within each trough 61, and eyebolts 64 thereon extend through the respective troughs 61- and blocks 51, thus securing the troughs to the block, as shown in Fig.5.

My device is to'be' driven in any convenient manner, as by a pulley, sheave, sprocket or gear upon the extension 14 of shaft 14. My invention maybe made of any size, and constructed of any materials deemed convenient and suitable in a device of this character, and while I have illustrated and described a form of construction and ar rangement' ofparts found desirable in mathis application all mechanical equivalents or substitutes that may fairly be considered to come within the scope and purview of my invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having disclosed my invention so that others skilled in the art may be enabled to construct and to use the same, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a sweeper, a power driven shaft universally movably mounted in a casing; frame members secured to said casing and rotatable thereabout; guideways upon said casing; a tail shaft universally movably journaled upon said frame members; sprockets upon said shafts; endless chains upon said sprockets; brooms upon said chains; a vehicle frame; guides on said vehicle frame coacting with said guideways; and means to adjust and secure said casing upon said guides.

2. A vehicle frame; guides thereon; cas ings slidably mounted upon said guides; journals universally movably mounted within said casings; a power driven shaft mounted within said journals; yokes rotatably mounted upon said casings; bars secured to said yokes; a pair of tail shafts universally movably journaled upon said bars; sprockets upon all of said shafts; chains upon said sprockets; brooms upon said chains; and guides intermediate said tail shafts adapted to control the path of travel of said chains therebetween.

3. In a sweeper, a power driven shaft; a tail shaft; a pair of parallel endless chains mounted upon sprockets secured upon said shafts; a pair of parallel side frames; journal boxes for said tail shaft mounted upon said side frames; a vehicle frame; journal boxes for said driven shaft mounted upon said vehicle frame; yokes rotatably mounted upon said driven shaft journal boxes and secured to said side frames; and means mounted upon said vehicle frame whereby the rearward end of said side frames may be adjustably suspended.

at. In a street sweeper, a pair of independent frame members each consisting of a rearwardly extending downwardly inclined portion and a substantially horizontally disposed portion rearwardly extending from the lower end thereof; a pair of parallel transversely disposed shafts rotatably and universally ournaled upon said horizontally disposed portion of said frames; a universal journal bearing mounted upon the upper end of each of said inclined portions of said frames, said latter journals being rotatably mounted upon a cross shaft in said sweeper; sprockets upon all of said. shafts; endless chains operating upon said sprockets; and brooms attached to said chains.

In Witness whereof I claim the foregoing as my own I hereunto affix my signature in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, at Portland, county of Multnomah, State of Oregon, this 1st day of April, 1918.

BRUCE FRAME.

Witnesses C. F. BLAKE, E. J. REYNOLDS. 

